Did you know that more than 50% of Americans still attend a religious service at least once a month? In addition to helping people connect with God, church provides a wonderful way to engage with other members of the community and meet new friends.

If you often spend your time counseling people and offering advice, you might have a wonderful pulse on what certain members of your congregation are thinking.

But chances are, you’re hearing from only the most vocal and engaged minority who may not be representative of the entire membership. And relying upon a few to gauge what your entire membership is thinking can lead to mistaken conclusions.

Church choirs are on the decline, according to the most recent study on the matter.

\A 2014 National Congregations Study found that fewer white Protestant churches of all denominations have choirs, though they continued to be prevalent in black Protestant congregations and Catholic churches.

Only 40% of conservative white evangelicals said there is a choir at service, down from 63% 14 years ago. For moderate or liberal Protestant congregations, the decline was from 78% in 1998 to 50% in 2012.

Though email can be a wonderful way to communicate important information to your church body, many people struggle to understand what to include in the body of their message and how to use the platform to their advantage.

It’s said that a good sermon can’t be too long and a bad sermon can’t be short enough.

The sermon is one of the most important parts of the service. Done well, it can elevate a weekly routine into something memorable and life-changing. Done poorly, it is quickly forgotten.

As you’ll see in the 2012 National Congregations Study, there’s no “best” or “right” way to conduct a sermon. Below are some interesting facts on how they can be influenced by region, congregation size, and other factors.

It’s impossible to ignore the increasing presence of churches on social media. Most churches now have Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, as they've realized that they can use these platforms to further connect and communicate with their community.

As churches seek to connect with their younger members, many have started to consider two additional forms of social media: Snapchat and Instagram.